Saturday, December 11, 2010

Catching up on recordings for several episodes of RPG Buffet, including Ravenloft, Dragonlance, and the last game set in Eberron. Following all of this is the overview of the year's gaming.

RAVENLOFT (August 2011)Because Strahd, the iconic villain of the Ravenloft setting, is so heavily influenced by Dracula and other East European terrors--and also because Steve is Hungarian by ethnicity--the Buffet decided to feast on Hungarian food that night!

PAPRIKAS CSIRKEPaprikás csirke, or "paprika chicken," is one Hungary's most famous dishes. Chicken is simmered in a paprika-flavored sauce until tender and sour cream is stirred into the sauce to enrich it. Chicken paprikash, as it is often called, is served with buttered noodles, csipetke or zsemlegomboc. Use genuine, high-quality Hungarian paprika, not the typical supermarket variety. 4 to 6 servings

Method 1. Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large, heavy-bottomed pot or skillet. Add the chicken pieces a few at a time and brown on all sides. Remove to a platter. 2. Remove any excess oil leaving about 2 tablespoons and add the onions. Sauté the onions until wilted and just beginning to brown. Stir in the paprika and flour and cook for another 1-2 minutes. 3. Whisk in the stock or water, breaking up any lumps. Add the browned chicken pieces and the salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender. 4. Remove the chicken to a platter and skim any excess fat from the sauce. Stir in the sour cream and lemon juice if using. Adjust seasoning and reheat over low flame. Return the chicken to the sauce and serve hot.

Method 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place the rice, 2 cups stock or water and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover tightly and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set off to the side, covered. 2. Heat the oil in a sauté pan or skillet over medium flame. Add the paprika and stir to just cook through and color the oil, about 30 seconds. Add the onions and sauté until translucent, about 4 to 5 minutes. Do not brown. 3. Add pork, sausage and the 1 1/2 cups of stock or water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add more stock or water if necessary to keep the pan from drying out. Remove from heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. 4. Place 1/3 of the rinsed sauerkraut in the bottom of a large casserole or baking dish. Spread 1/2 of the cooked rice over the sauerkraut. Then spread 1/2 of the meat over the rice. Lay egg slices over the pork and sausages. Repeat these layers a second time, finishing with a layer of sauerkraut. 5. Spread the sour cream over the top of the sauerkraut and lay the bacon strips neatly over the sour cream. Sprinkle the top of the dish with paprika for garnish. 6. Place the casserole in oven and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until it is bubbling and browned on top.

VariationsTry to use a Eastern European sausage like kolbász, kielbasa or Polish sausage. If unavailable, just use a spicy Italian sausage. Some recipes substitute cooked sliced potatoes for the rice

In Dutch oven or casserole with cover, saute onion in oil till it wilts. Remove and set aside. Pat meat dry and brown it, adding more oil if needed. Set meat aside with the onions. Pour in ½ cup of water and stir up brown bits. Add paprika, marjoram, caraway seeds and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the garlic, then the beef and onions and add enough stock to cover meat by 2 inches. Simmer for an hour, covered, adding more stock as needed to keep meat well covered. Add green pepper and tomatoes and continue simmering. Peel potatoes and cut into ½ - inch dice; keep them in water until ready to use. After meat has been cooking 1 ½ hours, add potatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, and enough water to cover. Simmer another 25 minutes or until potatoes are done. Taste – may need more salt. Stir in noodles.Adapted from Susan Derecskey’s The Hungarian Cookbook (NY: HarperPerennial, 1972)

DRAGONLANCE (September 2011)The Buffet decided to cook out one last time, so Brandon fired up his grill, and Mags made pork chops with an easy lemon-herb marinade. This marinade is also great for chicken. From AllRecipes.com.

Separate eggs and save whites separately (see below). Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until mixture is a thick, pale yellow, and falls back upon itself, forming a slowly dissolving ribbon. Beat in the orange liqueur. Set mixing bowl over not-quite simmering water and continue beating 3-4 minutes until foamy and too hot to touch. Then put over basin of cold water and beat another 3-4 minutes, until it’s cool and again forms the ribbon. It will have the consistency of mayonnaise.

Melt chocolate with coffee over hot water (or carefully in microwave). Remove from heat and beat in the butter a little at a time, beat chocolate into egg yolk to make a smooth cream.

4 egg whitespinch of salt1 Tb granulated sugar

Beat egg white and salt until soft peaks form. Add sugar and continue to beat until you get stiff peaks. Stir ¼ of egg mixture into chocolate mixture and fold in the rest.Adapted from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, vol. 1. (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998)

Add milk and waer to flour gradually, beating with whisk constantly so that the batter is very smooth. Add eggs, salt, and oil. Bet until smooth and set aside to rest for an hour or two.

Heat a large frying pan or crepe pan and grease very slightly. Pour large spoonful of batter into pan and roll around in the pan to cover the bottom. When brown, turn with large spatula and cook a moment on the other side. Place crepes on a large piece of foil and wrap up to keep warm in oven until ready to serve. They can be frozen.

When putting crepes together, put a crepe in the pan, cover with a few tablespoons of filling and cook 2 minutes. Roll up and serve.

Filling:While chicken, cut up – about three pounds.

Simmer with:onion stuck all over with clovescarrot2 bay leavessprig or two of parsleycelery leavessalt and pepper

After an hour, make sure juices are running clear (rather than pink) from the chicken. Cook longer if necessary, then allow chicken to cool in stock. Drain stock and discard everything but the stock and chicken. Cut the chicken meat into small pieces.

1 comment:

As an epilogue to your year of D&D, I highly recommend the board game Castle Ravenloft. I'm fairly sure it will resolve your feelings of wanting to like 4e. When my brother and I play-tested 4e, we had a similar feeling: wanting to like it. Turns out that it really was made for board gaming! Castle Ravenloft is extremely simple, extremely fun, and the random nature of the maps gives it a lot of replay value.